Women’s Golf Concludes Regular Season at Clemson Invitational
SUNSET, S.C. – The University of Kentucky women’s golf team will participate in its final tournament of the regular season this weekend, competing at the Clemson Invitational at The Reserve at Lake Keowee (par 72, 6,386 yards) in Sunset, South Carolina, March 24-26. The field features 16 teams, including four teams ranked in the Golfstat Top 25.
The Wildcats have competed in eight tournaments this season – four in the fall, four in the spring – compiling three finishes in the top three on a 289.3 stroke average through 24 rounds. The team is on pace to breaking the school record for best single season stroke average set at 289.53 through 17 rounds in 2019-20, while the Cats still have the Clemson Invitational, the Southeastern Conference Tournament, the NCAA Regionals and a hopeful NCAA Championship remaining on the schedule.
Kentucky will face a tough field to conclude the regular season, with four teams ranked in the Golfstat Top 25 and one team ranked in the top three. The field includes Clemson, Columbia, Florida Atlantic, Furman, Illinois, Kent State, Kentucky, No. 3 LSU, Maryland, No. 22 Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, No. 17 Ole Miss, Tennessee, UNCW, No. 16 Vanderbilt and Virginia Tech.
The Wildcats have competed against 11 of the 15 teams in the field this season, boasting a 13-7 record against those opponents. The Cats will square off against Columbia, Florida Atlantic, Illinois and Maryland for the first time in 2022-23.
Kentucky will bring a lineup made up of Jensen Castle, Laney Frye, María Villanueva Aperribay, Ivy Shepherd and Marissa Wenzler. The Wildcats have used that combination six times this season, while the fivesome has earned two team wins and one medalist honor.
Each golfer in the lineup is averaging below a 74.5 scoring average this season, and each golfer has had at least one individual finish in the top 15.
Kentucky is right back on the golf course for the second weekend in a row, just four days after concluding the Florida State Match Up. UK rallied a 28-over-par 892 for third place in Tallahassee, while three Cats finished in the top 15. Castle, a senior from West Columbia, South Carolina, earned her fifth straight top-10 finish at the event, which is the best streak of that kind in her career. Meanwhile, Villanueva Aperribay, a senior from San Sebastián, Spain, stepped up big time for the team. She assembled a 5-over-par 221 for a share of seventh place, which marked her first top-10 finish in two seasons.
The Wildcats can expect pristine weather during the weekend, with sunny skies and temperatures in the 80s. Kentucky will tee off in the first round on hole No. 1 Friday at 10 a.m. ET, paired with LSU, Kent State and Oklahoma.
For the latest on the Kentucky women’s golf team, follow the team on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, as well as on the web at UKathletics.com.
